---Lily's POV---

 

How did this all happen.

 

Three years ago, I agreed to work as a tutor for the Phoenix family, a prestigious noble house with a rich history of famous mages. I figured that it was going to be an easy way to make money, enough to purchase a new staff that will get me closer to my dream of becoming a purple robe.

 

The child I was going to teach is called Max. His personal maid, Sisley, told me that he is a quiet kid who rarely causes trouble.

 

I wasn't too concerned about that. A son of the High Mage, Magnus Phoenix, was bound to be talented. I never had any doubts that the job would be in any way difficult.

 

So when the time came for Max's Soul Depth measurement, as his mentor, it is tradition to personally perform the test myself. That was easy enough, I thought, as I've done it a thousand times already when I was a yellow robe.

 

"You must be Max. My name is Lily. I will perform your test, ok?"

 

I looked at the nervous child, who inherited his mother's honey-brown hair, and gave him a simple introduction with a smile. His red eyes moved left and right without saying a word, must be a shy kid. How cute.

 

What happened afterwards was the greatest catastrophe I have ever witnessed in my 22 years of experience as a mage. I thought my new job was already over when the score, -7, came out.

 

Manaphobia, it wasn't my first time seeing it, but for the son of Duke Magnus to be a manaphobe, something of this scale has never happened before.

 

… Why is the kid smiling though? Oh well, a toddler probably doesn't understand the implications of his own result.

 

I was expecting to be booted out and would need to search for a new job. Instead, however, Duke Magnus told me that the contract was still in effect and that I will be teaching Max magic.

 

That didn't make sense! Teaching a manaphobe magic is a total waste of time, not even the greatest healers of the Light Monarchy can cure it.

 

That being said, Magnus probably wanted to give Max some sort of a normal childhood. That's why I decided to give it a try.

 

"Miss clow- Lily, please, I know for a fact that a fireball as you call it is far inferior compared to a normal flame. It cannot be sustained as long as a torch due to the absence of…"

 

Umm, why is a 4-year-old talking so fluently? Also, why is he talking nonsense? All I did was scold him a little to try get his attention back, but for some reason, he started blabbering about how a spell I used as an example was useless.

 

I ended the lesson prematurely, as this was giving me a headache. In addition, I had to inform Sisley about what just happened.

 

The kid is mentally ill and needs help.

 

"Young master is still in shock due to the incident so please be more understanding. Also, I suggest not using such terms when referring to Max. This is a warning."

 

Sisley didn't believe me, and instead gave a 'friendly' threat not to talk about it anymore. I should've rejected taking this job when I had the chance.

 

I had to be very careful during the sessions with Max. It felt like I was walking on thin ice when I tried to explain anything even remotely related to magic. The simplest of spells were enough to trigger the child.

 

"NO, NO, NO! How many TIMES do I have to tell YOU that MANA is NOT NATURAL.”

 

Here he goes again. When Max is in this state, the best thing to do is wait patiently until he tires out from shouting. No amount of reasoning calms him down, it just makes things worse.

 

After another daunting day, I was walking back to my room to get some rest. This job is extremely stressful, yet I couldn't just quit as there is no way am I going to survive if I go against Duke Magnus. There is also the fact that my contract lasted till Max reached the age of 12.

 

"Oh? Just look at you, gloomy teacher. Is teaching young master Max magic that difficult? I mean, of course he can't use it, but this should make things easier since he doesn't need to show results, after all."

 

"Leave me alone, Hunter. I do not want to hear any of these lies anymore, especially from a slacker who got the easiest job ever."

 

The beast-kin always gets on my nerves every time we cross paths. Must be quite relaxing to be responsible for the protection of a sheltered kid who never leaves his home.

 

Hmm? Why is Alex standing in front of my room? He looks a bit anxious.

 

"M-Miss Lily! I… umm… How is my brother doing? I mean, is Max doing fine with his… studies?"

 

I gave the best smile I could make and nodded. There is no good reason to make Alex worry since he needs to focus on his own training. There are only 2 years left before he leaves for the Royal Academy, after all.

 

Speaking of which, Jack should be in his third year right now. I heard that he formed a group of adventurers and is almost a C-rank. Duke Magnus wasn't happy with his rebellious first son, but I'm actually impressed that Jack reached his current rank in less than a year.

 

Ok, enough about the kids, I should get some rest or I might actually get burnt out. Although tomorrow is a free day, I'll still need to report Max's progress to Duke Magnus...

 

My life is tough.

 

As night turned to day, I put on my makeup and went to the mansion's main office. What surprised me was that instead of Magnus, Sarah was sitting on the office chair.

 

Sensing my confusion, she began speaking.

 

"Magnus is busy right now due to the recent outbreak of soul corruption down South. Just pretend that he is here instead of me, ok?"

 

Her words were so soothing, it's almost as if she is using mind magic on me. Oh well, I can't go against the wife of my employer so let’s get over this quickly.

 

"As you wish. Max, to be frank, is a peculiar child with quite the… energetic personality to say the least. Although his condition is a big obstacle, I think he has made some progress on his magic education."

 

I couldn't tell Sarah about the kid's frequent outbursts and unstable nature. Every time I think about it, Sisley's warning comes up to my mind.

 

"Some progress, you say? I would like to hear more details on that, please."

 

Huh? Her voice is scaring me a little, also, why is she fixated on that part?

 

"Although it is difficult to assess Max's knowledge, I can still tell that he has enough to form simple magic formulae at the very leas-"

 

"He read half the books in my husband's study, you know?"

 

… What did she just say? I don't believe it; I cannot imagine the kid who made my life a total nightmare to be a bookworm behind my back.

 

"Alright Lily, you are dismissed. Thanks for allowing me to have your time and I wish that you continue taking good care of my son. Oh, one more thing, I recommend learning how to put makeup on from Martha. She might be young but you can definitely use her help~."

 

That last line was uncalled for. What's wrong with my makeup, anyway? I made sure to put plenty of it on my face so that I don't miss a spot.

 

I'm already missing Magnus's cold attitude.

 

As I was walking down the hallway leading to the kitchen for some breakfast, I pondered a bit. There is no reason for Sarah to lie to me, so now I'm curious. Max did have some information that I've never taught him before.

 

***************************************************

 

Three years have passed since then, and the new daughter of the Phoenix family is almost old enough to get her Soul Depth measurement. Understandably, the air in the mansion was getting a bit tense as worry about her score is looming over everyone's heads.

 

There is also a weird rumor going around that Max was somehow trying to give Alice manaphobia. Yeah as if that's a thing, though I am not sure who in their right mind would actually say something like that about a duke’s son. I don't know many people who despise manaphobes enough to risk their lives for this stunt.

 

Anyway, I have a lot of work to do today. First, I have to report to Magnus about Max's progress, though sometimes Sarah is there instead. After that, I need to prepare for the kid's lesson in the afternoon. When that's over, there would still be more work preparing Alex for his admission to the Royal Academy.

 

"Sup, gloomy teacher, you already look exhausted even though it's still morning. Is work too stressful nowadays?"

 

"Leave me alone, Hunter. I really am not in the mood for this."

 

This lazy good-for-nothing. Must be so good to have my same salary while doing absolutely no work at all.

 

"Yo relax, I actually came with some good news for you."

 

Now that is unexpected. Usually Hunter makes fun of me then disappears to who knows where.

 

"Remember how you were prohibited from entering Duke Magnus's study? Apparently, that ban has been lifted, so no need to try and sneak a peek at the little cub when he enters the study. You can just go in and join him!"

 

Finally! I have been begging the duke to let me in even once just so I can witness the unbelievable sight of Max reading magic books.

 

I still have an enormous pile of work to do, unfortunately...

 

"Thank you Miss Lily for the help. You must have it quite tough when your hands are full with... teaching my little brother. I'll make sure to tell dad that you deserve a vacation for all your hard work!"

 

"It is fine, Alex. The Royal Academy can be a little difficult so I am more than happy to guide you until the day you leave."

 

I smiled. Alex is such a good child who's not only talented in magic with a Soul Depth score of 72 but is also the only person in this entire mansion that understands my suffering. Why can't Max act like his older brother for once?

 

With all my duties over for the day, I am now free to go visit Magnus's study. I should probably ask Sisley if Max is there in the first place since that is the whole point of going there.

 

"Young master? I believe he is in the master’s study reading books right now. He is not in his room at the moment, if that is what you wanted to know."

 

Great! Now all that is left to do is actually go and witness the impossible sight of Max reading books. Though I am having an eerie feeling that something was wrong. The kid was supervised, right?

 

Then I saw it, a room full of books, with an open window and a chair under it.

 

Max was not there.

 

I instinctively released a magic pulse in an attempt to locate him. The mana wave should reflect off of him and get amplified due to his manaphobia.

 

My heart froze when a signal came back from the Osmic forest, the worst case scenario. There's no way that crazy child would be able to survive a monster attack.

 

I had no time to lose, I sprinted with all my might towards the forest. Even when my legs were burning and my robe constantly getting in the way, I never slowed down.

 

Although I knew that Max was in the forest, his exact position remained a mystery. I frantically searched in every direction, looking for even a single clue.

 

"Hunter, if you don't come out right now, I'm going to tell father that you are a lazy slacker and get you fired!"

 

I heard a shout coming far from my left. I swiftly focused my view in that direction and reflexively entered a combat stance. I was already finished preparing an ice spear just as I detected a grey wolf 300 meters away.

 

After a quick adjustment to the trajectory of my spell, I launched the ice spear towards the creature, impaling it before being able to react.

 

I cancelled my combat stance and ran to where the monster once stood.

 

"Huff...huff… Max, are you alright? Thank goodness… seems like I wasn't too late."

 

I was gasping for air, mages like me never do this kind of exercise, yet I was somehow able to save the kid before he got hurt, or worse.

 

His hands were a bit roughed up, but he looked fine beyond that so I relaxed a bit and started scolding him. What I did not expect was that an apology came out of his mouth.

 

Seems like he actually has some decency, to my surprise. Maybe I shouldn't be too harsh on him when he has an expression that looks like he just witnessed the end of the world.

 

When we returned back to the mansion, I saw Sisley nervously standing outside the main gate. I never told her about Max's escape before now, so she must've found out on her own and put her faith in me.

 

From there, Sisley took Max to his room and made a scene crying and hugging the boy. I waited a bit then informed the maid that I was going to report this incident to his parents.

 

For some reason, Sisley told me not to inform his mother about what happened, no matter what. She looked quite distressed too so I decided to comply with her wish.

 

I reported everything to Duke Magnus in detail, and just as I expected, all he did was give me his famous nod and said that he will 'deal with it soon'. I sometimes wonder how this expressionless man ever got married, not to even mention doing it twice.

 

However, on the next morning, I was urgently called over by a butler to the duke's office. As I opened the door, I saw Max sitting in front of Magnus with a determined look in his eyes crimson.

 

Hunter was also there, standing beside Magnus with a care-free expression that pissed me off. How can he be so shameless after failing the only task given to him?

 

"Good. Let's begin."

 

There I listened to the most awkward conversation between a father and his son.